


Clint Eastwood

by mickeylover303



Series: Random Space AU [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Gen, JRPG - Freeform, M/M, Magic, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:33:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26655943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mickeylover303/pseuds/mickeylover303
Summary: Unprepared for what he and Juugo find, Itachi is faced with a cruel ultimatum, while Naruto discovers he’s no longer alone, as he makes his way across Barrah, searching for Sasuke and the road that will eventually lead them home. NarutoSasuke.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Itachi, Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uchiha Sasuke, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Random Space AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689757
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. I. Sound Check I

**Sound Check I**

He doesn’t like to make a habit of not knowing.

Despite past warnings of him possibly being too overly cautious, in some instances even accusations of carrying prudence to a near unrealistic extent that would conversely draw unwanted attention, he prefers to err on the far side of well prepared, as much as he’s able, prefers to approach life in a position that allows him to make better informed decisions, simply prefers not to find himself in situations where he’s caught in any state unawares.

_Even for Uchiha Itachi, isn’t that aspiring a little too high?_ Shisui would probably say, along those lines often times did say, so often used to tease him, for his apparent aversion to even the mere notion of his inability to know everything.

Of course, Shisui knew it wasn’t true. It’s never been true. It wasn’t even first in the list of limitations he’s long since learned to accept, because he’s long since understood it’s much more realistic to expect the inevitability of situations he simply can’t prevent.

He’s never thought to contest an aspect of life no one can change, even takes a sort of solace in the realisation that there will forever remain things beyond his reach and comprehension, but he’s always appreciated knowledge for the sake of knowledge, an inclination that’s only increased with time, and has now allowed him to truly appreciate the inherent advantage that sometimes comes alongside simply having knowledge at all, as opposed to what he’s encountered too many times before, during his own rise through the ranks, observed from those in seemingly influential positions on the political spectrum, seemingly lacking any semblance of humility, those who far too often approach the more delicate conversations being weaved around them so woefully unaware.

However, knowledge can be as much a mercy as it is a burden, when being knowledgeable becomes a means of survival, and being the holder of certain information can determine the quality of life for another person, information deemed detrimental in certain hands that can even become the sole determining factor in gauging whether another person’s status, the perceived entirety of their worth, is regarded to be more beneficial dead or alive.

While he’d still never profess to know everything, won’t presume to know much of anything, in many instances has the existence of certain information served as a tipping point in his favour, has given him the kind of hand that continues to offer enough insulation from those who would otherwise see him violently stripped of the very power he’s strived on his own to obtain.

The continued pursuit of knowledge, the desire to seek any knowledge, he doesn’t view it so much a fruitless endeavour, as some of his peers and colleagues have tried to convince him, but rather a highly effective and much more practical line of passive offence that allows him to take proactive measures against anyone foolish enough to believe the rumours still decrying nepotism to diminish the success he’s achieved.

To anyone so foolish, to anyone who would so easily dismiss not only his own merits already proven several times over, but to also ignore the hours of field and combat experience mandated to even become eligible for one of the highest ranking officer positions in the AAF, with the name Uchiha, he doesn’t doubt there probably have been instances where cries of nepotism haven’t been made unfounded.

In his case, however, as he finds himself the unwitting recipient of more and more attention from longstanding political figures, far beyond Nagi’s reach, people who hail from some of the most consequential groups considered to have a substantial hand in the current direction of the Alliance and its state of affairs—increasingly, he also finds the cries denouncing him tend to sound louder when made from within his own family, louder still resounding from a few of his cousins who aren’t so far removed, and yet it’s nothing that’s come unexpected.

Despite how he’s come to better appreciate the inherent advantages gained alongside acquired knowledge, he can’t really say he’s ever been afforded the supposed luxury of ignorance.

From a very young age, his parents had already begun to impress upon him the importance of appearances, imbued within him the significance of maintaining an image of both propriety and quiet authority that inherently came alongside the name Uchiha, and had little do with their family being known for having higher than average levels of empathy.

He was told to hold himself with distinction, to carry himself with purposeful strides, for even the slightest deviation could lend itself to outside scrutiny, and allow anyone the opportunity to hone in on any perceived weakness.

Because he was their first child.

And for ten years, he remained their only child, their first and only son.

Quickly, he grew to understand what that position entailed, through the role he was being groomed to take, quickly learned how to infer between the many words left unsaid, including the resentment held towards him for no other reason than being his father’s son.

It’s simply the nature of things, embroiled among those who do move within the upper echelons of privileged society, where principles can so often be supplanted by wealth, where the lure of power is merely a delusion born from intrigue, and status becomes a transient symbol that can be so easily taken away.

(Even Sasuke hasn’t been exempt from the unpleasantness of this reality, only spared in the sense that it affects him directly in less transparent ways.

As the second child of two powerful magic users, as the second son of Uchiha Mikoto and Fugaku, especially as he is now, as much as their parents have tried to shield him, he’s already reached an age where he’s been made aware that there are those even from within their family who wouldn’t hesitate to exploit him for their own gain; it wasn’t an easy series of conversations to have, one that began when Sasuke was quite young, naturally began muted, gradually became more complex, but it was a continued discussion necessary to help Sasuke better understand the changes happening around him, and why the world around him had suddenly become so small.)

As his parents’ first child, expectations had already been placed on him, predetermined long before his birth, exceptionally high demands being made of him simply due his parents’ standing as core members of the family, corresponding with their rise in politics at the time, further securing their family’s continued prominence within the Alliance, while also coinciding with a noted increase of involvement from those within the magic user community, certainly upholding at least the appearance of the Uchiha legacy,

As his father’s child, as his father’s first and only son, it was with the implicit understanding that he, too, would one day follow the path laid before him, would eventually take his father’s place as a leader among those well-regarded within the main branch.

However, his parents had also cautioned him, never thought to diminish what his own eyes allowed him to see, within the walls of their home, had seen and attempted to assuage his burgeoning unease. Yet with increased exposure only came a greater sense of discontent, as he continued to observe the seeming duality of a world that more and more belied the very ideology he was taught and still wanted so much to believe.

Perhaps at that age he really had been a little too precocious for his own good, as Minato used to say, but it would sicken him, having to watch the adults around him clamouring over one another in their vie for power, appealing to their own vanity, instead of the values their family had upheld for centuries.

He feared they were becoming too complacent, underneath the guise of loyalty, falling prey to a precarious sort of compliance that would have them behave as if a time when magic users weren’t even thought fit to be considered _people_ was really so far removed—as if wealth on its own could ever be enough to sustain them, as if something as fickle as power could ever be guaranteed.

Admittedly, then, with observations based on his own limited experiences, his views were still conventional and far too narrowed, leaving him with so very little to grasp from the world beyond him, already left isolated from what had been so difficult for him to comprehend, and yet despite his own waning certainty, his still mounting discontent, Shisui had _understood_.

In ways it had once seemed no one could, on such a fundamental level, so much of what he came to appreciate and respect about Shisui resonated with him; and although Shisui had been critical of his mindset then, he’d also taken the time to listen, became a source of consolation, someone who had truly wanted to help reconcile the turmoil grown within him, had wanted to help him discover for himself, what he hadn’t yet begun to realise, the truths underlying their family’s ideals seemingly reduced to no more than distorted notions of morality.

_“Inheriting the name Uchiha, the weight of being given that burden, although you might not be able to feel it now, I do think it’s something within your reach. And one day, you truly will be able to understand what it means to carry our kind of heritage and exactly what our name stood for, during a time when so many people like us were routinely made to suffer, and were hunted down, nearly eradicated, for simply being who they are._

_“That being said, I don’t think you’re wrong, though. A little too idealistic maybe, because you are still so young, and there are a lot things you still need time to figure out, but I think it’s okay to allow yourself to be a little idealistic in this world, even as you get older. I don’t see anything wrong with that._

_“Because I do see where you’re coming from. And I agree. There are too many in this family who have lost sight of the bigger picture, who take for granted the simple kinds of privileges we didn’t have before, and seem to truly lack the awareness of how far we’ve had to come._

_“But it’s not so much what happens to us as we are now, Itachi. That’s what history has repeatedly shown us. That we’re so much more than how we perceive ourselves as individuals, that there really is so little we’re actually able to change on our own._

_“So, it becomes more about what we can do to preserve who we’ve been, who we are, and who we still can be, to ensure that the legacy of our family will continue to be passed on.”_

As often as Shisui did like to tease him, however cavalier he would be with his words, as a core member of their family, very well he understood his own predicament and the dangers of disturbing or deviating from the status quo. 

Yet Shisui was still much older, far from being a child, and on the occasion Shisui did try to alleviate his doubts, he’d simply remind him that sometimes change has to come slowly, has to evolve into a much more devious thing, something that when instilled lies unnoticed, itself remains unquestioned, a change that arrives too late to be overturned.

Much of his own change had come more quickly, near instantaneously, came with the arrival of Sasuke, came alongside the sudden responsibility of having another life in his arms, such a fragile life so wholly dependent upon him, and with it came a patience he’d been lacking, a patience to look beyond the present set before him, came the beginnings of a deeper understanding encompassing so many things Shisui had already believed he’d one day be able to see.

Truly, it humbled him. Even at such a young age, having already taken so many of Shisui’s words to heart, there was no hesitation in his decision to preserve the legacy of their family, to protect the light in his little brother’s eyes, to ensure Sasuke would never fall prey to what Itachi then couldn’t have known he himself would eventually become.

And when Sasuke had still shown no signs of developing empathy, when it was declared he wouldn’t develop the magic that had proven strong along so many generations, while he wasn’t necessarily pleased, he did feel a sense of relief, perhaps even put somewhat at ease, when it seemed Sasuke wouldn’t be exposed to the realities of a world made tenable by too many lies, entangled within the promise of their family’s ideals Sasuke had already so fervently believed.

Only with the development of Sasuke’s empathy, did the situation begin to present itself as a far more tangible incentive to limit Sasuke’s exposure.

“Managing to slide by for so long without any press, I guess that isn’t so bad.”

“It hasn’t been long enough.”

“The Uchiha Anomaly, huh. That’s what they’re going with.”

“Seems more than a bit gratuitous.”

“Well, supposedly, it’s an Uchiha family scandal, so it’s supposed to be gratuitous,” Shisui said, using a finger to idly scroll down his PCD, skimming through the article Itachi had brought to his attention. 

“They sure are trying hard to make this into a spectacle, though, aren’t they,” he murmured, eyes narrowed. He paused, brow furrowed, as he began scrolling back up to display the large print overtaking nearly the entirety of the screen, squinting as he leaned in closer, quietly reading aloud the byline.

“No matter how you look at it, that’s the kind of headline that just makes you cringe.”

“Nothing about Sasuke they haven’t been trying to imply before.”

“But even for magic users, something like that, having empathy without presenting any kind of magic, it really is sort of strange, isn’t it?”

“Perhaps...” It was all Itachi allowed himself to say, not quite admitting he’d rather Sasuke didn’t present any kind of magic, that Sasuke had nothing to do with that part of their world at all. “The more pertinent question is who discovered and then thought to disclose that information.”

“It’ll turn up eventually.”

“You’re already...”

Shisui gave a low hum, placing down his PCD on the table between them. “Yeah, I’m doing what I can to look into who might’ve been snooping around Reife, but right now, it’s looking to be just another case of who said, they said, when.”

He leaned back in the chair, raising his arms and crossing them behind his head. He closed his eyes, releasing a sigh. “Another instance of the blame game I’m not looking forward to,” he muttered, before suddenly dropping his arms, visibly perking as he leaned forward, folding his arms on top of the table. “ _Oh._ ”

Itachi raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I’m just thinking. Whoever it is, I bet that poor unfortunate soul didn’t anticipate you being Uchiha Sasuke’s older brother.”

“Honestly, Shisui. At this stage, it’s something that’s already been done,” Itachi said. “You actually believe there’s anything I could do?”

“Maybe that’s not how you see it now, but the way I see you look at Sasuke sometimes, the bond between you, when it comes down to it, honestly...

“I actually believe there’s not that much you wouldn’t do.”

But Shisui was right. It did come out eventually. Shisui’s contact was able to trace the information back to the culprit, led to a press junket for a small film that had only recently begun receiving more publicity; one of the bit players in the film was behind it, not so much an actor as a social climber, who had stolen the credentials from a relative working at Reife.

As it happened, that same contact would come to be one of many of Shisui’s contacts Itachi would take over following Shisui’s death, less than a year after the article about Sasuke had been published.

And in that modest time between, everything seemed to pass so quickly, with Shisui’s death having come so suddenly, and although it certainly did have an effect on him, continues to affect him, he can’t say he’s truly had the opportunity to properly mourn the fact that Shisui was no longer in his life.

He was never given the time.

Instead, almost immediately, barely a day since he’d rushed Sasuke to the hospital, there had already been a press release about the incident, by the same police department his father had once worked in, public assurances of an ongoing investigation on matters relating to Shisui’s death.

Even from within Reife, from within the isolated ward Sasuke had only been released from a few weeks before, through the numerous attempts to contact him, the slew of calls and messages it nearly seemed on every hour he’d receive, he was being bombarded with countless allegations that he somehow played a role in Shisui’s death—due to a perceived rivalry grossly exaggerated between them, between widely recognised prodigies in the Uchiha family, this caricature they portrayed of Shisui, degrading him as someone who had simply stood in his way.

It became such a scandal, surrounding him unseemly gossip, amid the spread of outlandish accusations so inconceivable, that Sasuke’s condition had been an unfortunate consequence of his older brother’s jealous rage toward his older cousin.

Apart from the voluntary responses he provided to the police, he refused to answer to any of it. He had more important concerns, with Sasuke once again being admitted to Reife, still unconscious, still unresponsive, once again suffering from what appeared to be some sort of effect involving his empathy.

At one point, however, it did begin to feel as if the media had purposely singled him out, near tantamount to character assassination, as if the attack were a targeted campaign to both discredit him and specifically put at risk any prospects he had for a successful military career. The vitriol also seemed to extend to his parents, to their family in its entirety, with Shisui’s death seemingly becoming the opportunity to rehash any previous misgivings some had already been determined to associate with their name.

(Within even those rumours, there had also been careful whispers about the Uchiha family’s supposed intent to usurp the Executive Committee, sown among the occasional, meticulously worded talk, insinuations that the main branch had for years actually been planning a coup to take over Nagi, and utilise for themselves Nagi’s already highly influential position within the Alliance, to further their own agenda.

And while he wasn’t able to confirm there hadn’t been some underlying truth, neither did he feel comfortable with the notion of acting on what had so far only amounted to speculation.)

Yet the majority of what was said to sustain the scandal was just enough that it didn’t meet the threshold for libel or slander, where legal action could be taken, which he still wouldn’t have pursued under normal circumstances, although even more so under these particular circumstances, because he didn’t want to draw further to attention to Sasuke.

He became somewhat of a pariah, a view that had come to an abrupt shift with the unwelcome public revelation of Sasuke’s status of a life user. In the duration, however, he could only bide his time. He took another emergency leave, what became another extended stay on Nagi, as he worked from Sasuke’s room, worked rarely leaving Sasuke’s side, immersing himself in the materials Shisui had left to him, attempting to pick up where Shisui had seemingly been cut off, preoccupied seeking clues to anything that may have uncovered the events leading to Shisui’s death.

(From there he began to establish more connections of his own, began to build an extensive underground network of information, a network that included informants both witting and unwitting, composed of operatives recruited as a result or even in the midst of undercover assignments, providing him eyes and ears in sectors across both the Alliance and the Federation—what currently stands as an extremely proficient and vast system of intelligence gathering that he’d been given near carte blanche to create.)

Due to what was quickly becoming Sasuke’s second prolonged hospital stay, with the additional time on his hands, he became more attentive to the smaller happenings around him, more and more, drawn increasingly toward what outwardly appeared to be ordinary events that normally wouldn’t have caught his attention.

Interestingly enough, the year Shisui died had also been an important election year for one particular district, in one of the few prefectures on Nagi considered to be more conventionally conservative.

And yet in this one particular, atypically conservative district, for the first time in decades, the incumbent, Shimura Danzou, was being challenged, opposed by someone who had never before run for election, no less, yet the odds were placed in his opponent’s favour, very early on, predicted his opponent to win in a landslide, with even the preliminary polls having all but declared victory for Uchiha Madara.

There wasn’t much to say about him. Despite sharing the name Uchiha, he was considered a very distant relative, respectable enough as a magic user, nothing notable to stand him apart, aside from his background in medicine. He was more so of an outlier, with no formal ties to the main branch, alongside no apparent experience or prior interest in politics. In that district, the glaring lack of typically accepted qualification turned quite a few heads, and the announcement of his run came to the displeasure of many.

But Madara knew how to perform, how to curry the right favour, knew precisely what was expected of him to say, to please both the leaders of their family and his rapidly growing base, quickly drawing more attention to a relatively small local election, as he continued to gain momentum, with news of the race even reaching the Capital.

As well, perhaps timed a little too conveniently, Danzou had been plagued by his own scandal. While he wasn’t alleged to be personally involved, both his campaign manager and one of his long-time campaign financiers were convicted of wide-scale external fraud, part of a much larger operation based on loan forfeiture programmes apparently based from Federation sector.

Anything of monetary value tied to Danzou’s campaign, even indirectly, those monies and assets were seized, and with no steady stream of funding, when his donors and supporters began distancing themselves from the backlash he’d received, Danzou all but conceded before the final results of the race.

And yet it was still considered something of a political upset. Since his first bid for public office, he’d always campaigned successfully, and hadn’t faced any serious competition that would either jeopardise his position or even evoke the possibility of him having to step down.

Prior to becoming a prominent figure in politics, he represented what many considered a minority view on Nagi, and had neither condoned nor condemned the steadily growing resurgence of anti-magic sentiment demonstrated by groups that would openly align themselves with him.

(The derogatory beliefs still held toward magic users, it was a topic he and Shisui would discuss at length, something he actively did try to shield Sasuke from, well before Sasuke developed empathy, because it remains an inescapable reality even their name can’t assure protection from.

As progressive as Nagi’s traditionally leaned towards those matters, with Nagi located in one of the largest and most affluent sectors, home to one of most populous magic user communities throughout Alliance territory, anti-magic sentiment will always manage to find its place among them.)

Primarily, though, Danzou was affiliated with a small social reform party, a populist who’d steadily gained more traction during his time in office. He became well-liked even within that district’s magic user community, despite a voting history expressing disinterest toward issues affecting magic users, toward some of his own constituents, an attitude that could only be described as ambiguous at best, but that hadn’t seemed to put a damper on any political ambitions.

Three months following Shisui’s death, however, Danzou lost his re-election bid to Madara. He then seemed to have fallen to the wayside, faded into relative obscurity until fairly recently.

This year also happens to be another important election year for that one particular, atypically conservative district, marked by the return of an opponent posing a viable challenge for Madara, Danzou having made his reappearance after a near eight-year, self-imposed political exile, with a new campaign team behind him, with new fundraising records being set and broken, with the same escalating strain of anti-magic sentiment following him.

Although what’s probably more curious, even somewhat unsettling, is that Shimura Danzou has been filing a decent number of retrieval requests for Naruto’s Academy records.

On the surface, it’s nothing necessarily untoward. It’s usually part of the recruitment process, an effort to look into Academy trainees, done with the intention of possibly offering them positions following graduation, because not every trainee chooses to enlist in the military.

As long as the requests are filled through the proper channels, there normally isn’t cause for alarm. At the very least, these requests are being made under Danzou’s name. The official paperwork has been cleared multiple times. 

As well, independent of being Namikaze Minato’s son, though he’s already decided to apply for early admittance to the SFTI programme, Naruto continues to draw more than his fair share of attention from a wide range of interested parties, politicians like Danzou included.

The extent of that information is not something he’s able to fully disclose to Naruto, but he did relay Danzou’s apparent interest in him, partly for his own curiosity, to discover whether Naruto had been aware or if he’d recently noticed anything amiss, but mostly as a means of distraction for Naruto.

After being forced to land here, wherever here may be, stranded in the caves he retreated to for shelter, left to wait in the middle of a desert storm that’s hours later still yet to pass, he and Naruto only have time between them.

Since regaining consciousness, Naruto’s been restless, constantly fidgeting in front of the fire, his shadow flittering behind him along the cave’s wall.

Of what he could remember, flashes of what he could piece together, he was the first to wake up after the crash, woke to the sight of a dunemite trying to make its way through the ship’s emergency hatch, managing to reach far enough to drive its stinger inside the cockpit. He then remembered screaming, being trapped against his seat, surrounded by so much blood, remembered the searing pain from his arm.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up here, in the caves, next to the fire Itachi had made, his left arm completely healed, unable to sense any sign of Sasuke at all.

“Wasting his energy over something so small when he knows I can take care of myself. I didn’t need—” Gritting his teeth, Naruto snarled, pointedly looking away from his arm. “The nerve of that stupid asshole. He knows I heal fast. I could’ve taken out that overgrown scorpion on my own. He didn’t have to—”

“The dunemite’s stinger went straight through your arm. After your body began to convulse, you lost consciousness because you’d lost too much blood. You were trapped in the ship. By the time I was able to reach you, the venom would have killed you if the blood loss didn’t. Even with your enhanced healing, there was very little chance you would have survived had Sasuke not used his magic.”

Lips drawn in a tight line, Naruto remained silent, head turned away from Itachi’s hard stare, eyes trained on the small fire between them.

“He placed his life in danger to save yours. The least you can do is respect his decision.”

While he wasn’t there to see Naruto’s arm then, he had seen those types of wounds before, during a few of his assignments as an instructor on Naus; he had to attend to trainees who had overestimated their abilities, despite both oral and verbal warnings, had vastly underestimated the amount of damage a dunemite could inflict with its stinger, and unfortunately only seemed to learn after having to experience it for themselves.

Naruto’s arm may be completely healed now, but the jagged hole through Naruto’s jacket sleeve remains. The blood darkening his clothes still hasn’t dried.

Talking seems to have helped him calm down, though. He’s still a bit on edge, still has a bad feeling, a sentiment Itachi shares, but Naruto’s also expressed his thoughts on what may have led to their current situation, without hesitation, declaring that the three of them crash landing on an unknown desert planet that hadn’t even shown up on their radar was probably an inside job.

“Some scouter ship just getting the drop on us like that? After knowing the logistics that go into getting us to these peace summits at all, knowing how much of that stuff is actually classified No way. I don’t buy that. There’s has to have been a change of hands somewhere before we left.”

He’s not surprised Naruto would so quickly come to that conclusion. Naruto can be much more perceptive than even he tends to give himself credit for, and there was nothing he said that would’ve brought Itachi to disagree.

It’s still a possibility, seemingly leaning more towards being a probability.

And yet, despite what he already knows, among the many things he already suspects, of all the situations he could’ve predicted, he’s still having difficulty connecting anything that would’ve better prepared him for this strangely specific scenario.

Like Naruto implied, it’s too convenient.

He just needs more time to solve what’s he’s missing, time he realises they probably don’t have, but...

Aside from Danzou’s reappearance, there are two things that immediately come to mind, both perhaps correlated, but the latter an occurring series of activity he’s been carefully monitoring lately.

Over the last three years, across pockets of both Alliance and Federation territories, there’s been an significant rise of emerging factions, for the time being, minor skirmishes between a seemingly random scattering of opposing groups demanding independence from their respective governments, and, in many instances, propagating social discord on a highly localised level.

To date, the incidents have yet to occur outside sectors composed of mostly either underdeveloped or developing areas. Some of them have even proved to be staged attempts to spark civil unrest.

What he’s been tracking a little more closely, however, is a recent pike of activity originating from a small area within neutral territory, from within a neutralised zone neither the Alliance nor the Federation has ever tried to lay claim to—Yorshka, a once annexed, former industrial colony that had suffered a severe economic collapse, having fallen into decline some time ago, and seemingly unable to recover since.

Although it may not have anything to do with their current situation, it’s a lead Kakashi insisted he should look into, and while he wouldn’t consider Kakashi a formal contact, with Minato being the one to personally introduce them, their interests and type of information they tend to procure do overlap.

Moreover, it came to Kakashi at random, purely by chance, something neither of them could ignore. Like any other lead, he doesn’t expect much from it, yet this lead, if proven true, may indicate a link to both Sasuke and Naruto that could very well expose not only them, but perhaps even Kyuubi, as well.

Between these small uprising and Yorshka, he doesn’t know why that’s what his mind keeps returning to. Simply a feeling perhaps, the same kind of intuition that hasn’t steered him wrong in the past.

Regardless, it’s still the situation itself that bothers him.

Presumably the last to wake after the crash, he discovered Naruto lying on the floor unconscious, unable to find any trace of Sasuke before the worsening storm forced him away from the ship, as he carried Naruto until he was able to find better cover.

Although losing consciousness may not have been something he could’ve prevented, he still can’t help but berate himself for leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone for any amount of time in a situation like this, where he has so little information to rely on. In regards to their welfare, he can’t afford to mistakes.

At the moment, though, he can admit the situation is beyond him.

They’re not going to make their scheduled check-in on Nelvana III, but he has contingency plans for that, systems already in place in the event something did happen to them.

Just not for this.

Right now, he doesn’t have anything to fall back on. He can only continue to wait for this storm to pass, remain an anchor for Naruto. Afterward, hopefully by morning, he and Naruto can scout the area while searching for Sasuke.

He hadn’t been able to sense Sasuke at the crash site, either, hadn’t had time to look, and yet he chose to trust his intuition, instead of staying, trusted that...

“It feels like we’ve been sitting in this cave since the beginning of time. My back hurts. My legs are too numb to move anymore. I think I’m forgetting how to use my arms. Every second I spend cooped up in here is another second I could be using to look for Sasuke out there, and I just feel so useless not being able to—”

“Get some rest, Naruto. We’ll find Sasuke tomorrow. The temperature’s dropped too low to go searching tonight, and you’re in no condition to do anything other than sleep.”

“I know, but...”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll be here when you wake up.”


	2. I. Sound Check II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Semi-condensed explanation for not immediately picking up after Naruto and Sakura. *coughs* In my defence, I’d already been writing this one Itachi chapter way, way before I even saw the light at the end of the tunnel for DH. I just didn’t expect it to end up so very long, which is why I decided to treat its sections as chapters, to keep the chapters overall shorter, and having these particular ones sort of run parallel to the first eight chapters of DH.
> 
> That being said, while not wanting it to read the same, or too redundant, I do hope this presents some information in a new light, things Sasuke and Naruto don’t know, alongside more stuff about Itachi, Shisui, and Juugo I’m getting a chance to revisit, to flesh them out a little more, so they won’t seem so much like the caricatures I first made them to be, before RSAU became an actual "serious thing".

**Sound Check II**

Despite Juugo having what almost appears to be a near deference to Sasuke, it doesn’t do anything to alleviate Itachi’s concerns, much less his increasing apprehension about the particulars surrounding the events that led to Juugo’s current situation, if even the seemingly most trivial detail of Juugo’s story does prove to be true.

At the moment, he has no incentive to believe him, nor has he seen anything from Juugo that would suggest cause for disbelief. There’s simply not enough information to persuade him either way, and it’s still far too early to determine Juugo’s character, to form any opinion about this peculiar stranger, the first person they happened to come across on this unknown planet that happens to support life, yet the same person who had saved Sasuke when Itachi himself couldn’t.

However grateful he is to Juugo now, as accommodating as Juugo’s been, he hadn’t known Juugo before their initial encounter. He’d only known what little Naruto was able to relay through the comms in those few minutes beforehand, while Naruto was running after Sasuke, who’d suddenly taken off in a rush, clearly worried about something Naruto didn’t know.

Naruto also informed him that they’d probably be running into him soon, because they were heading in his direction, and it wasn’t long until Sasuke reached Juugo first, reached the cell where Itachi had already been waiting, cloaked by his shadow magic, had simply been observing, taking note of what he’d been able to discern from the brief interaction between his little brother and Juugo: Sasuke’s lack of unease at the sight of Juugo, instead a fleeting relief turned surprise, as his eyes searched the rest of the cell, as the concern grew more visible on Juugo’s face, when Juugo began to take a step forward, already familiar addressing Sasuke by name.

Already cautioned by Itachi’s mark of a possible target, Naruto wasn’t far behind. Upon entering the cell, upon seeing Juugo, immediately, he pulled Sasuke behind him, with his wind magic, erected an offensive barrier to enclose both of them, without attempting to engage, keeping away from Sasuke a red-eyed Juugo slowly growing in rage, ignoring Sasuke’s failed attempts to convince him Juugo wasn’t a threat—as Naruto was trained to do, what he understood he was supposed to do, holding his position until Itachi ordered him to stand down.

He would’ve intervened earlier, if he truly thought it necessary, but Naruto was fully capable of handling the situation on his own, which allowed him to better gauge Juugo’s reaction to both his and Naruto’s appearance.

Although it certainly hadn’t been enough to decide whether or not Juugo posed a threat, he couldn’t disregard that Juugo seemingly had been acting in Sasuke’s defence, body tense, willing to confront Naruto yet not willing to put Sasuke at further risk by attacking, and almost immediately set at ease after Naruto lowered his barrier, the yellow already slipped away from Juugo’s pupils, his large frame relaxed completely, the moment Sasuke acknowledged that he hadn’t come alone.

_“Forgive me. I have no hostile intentions. I only wish to ensure Sasuke’s safety.”_

The apology came unexpected, came without hesitation, seemed as sincere as his interest toward Sasuke, made more apparent when Sasuke declared that Juugo had found him, quickly unfolding into a conversation that only served to raise more questions about the significance of this Barrah, this place where Juugo became the last of his people to call home.

However many hours passes for a day on Barrah, barely even that much time has passed, and he still doesn’t know how to categorise most of what’s happened.

It was only this morning that he and Naruto left the caves as soon as the storm began to calm, before dawn began to break. They headed for the ship first. Aside from being the obvious choice, where Sasuke was last seen, it was also an opportunity to make a quick assessment on the more immediate, exterior damage along the hull: from the emergency hatch the dunemite had torn through, to the front half of the ship buried at the base of a considerably tall sand dune, slowly sinking further into the sand trap they landed near.

Even at first glance, it wasn’t entirely unsalvageable, but it was probably going to take more than a few good days’ worth of dedicated repairs.

_“What do you think?”_

_“It’s not that I don’t have confidence in my skills, you know. Because I know I’m really good at what I like to do. And I can do what I have to do. But I also have to tell you. Especially for a Tolstoy model, as bad as this one looks, other than a case of FM, something like this is going to take a shit-ton of work.”_

Naruto confirmed no less than what he’d already suspected. He hadn’t expected the ship to be flight-ready, just as he hadn’t expected to find Sasuke near it, and even that was perhaps because he’d rather Sasuke had been able to find shelter, hadn’t instead woken stranded in the middle of a desert alone.

What did come unexpected, was what he discovered some two or three kilometres away from the ship. Whatever footprints Sasuke may have left behind, those were long gone. Sasuke had, however, left behind his sword.

It hadn’t been retracted, nearly buried by sand, its hilt and the upper half of the single-edge blade protruding at a low angle from the ground, but, perhaps more importantly, it marked what looked to be evidence of Sasuke’s magic—what had initially caught Itachi’s immediate attention, far more discernable, a trail still highly visible despite the sizeable displacement of sand that had occurred during the storm, left almost completely untouched, a massive patch of scorched earth spanning no less than ten metres wide, no more than two metres deep, at least eighty metres long, possibly more.

The sight was as disconcerting as it was somewhat encouraging, that Sasuke had even felt the need to use his magic, most likely his life magic, but especially so that he had channelled it through his sword, the significance of an already uncharacteristic display of elemental magic, and to such a devastating extent, when Sasuke had been conditioned to treat the use of any magic as a last resort, and even then would more readily use his healing or shadow magic.

It led Itachi to believe that it probably hadn’t been a conscious act on Sasuke’s part, which Sasuke would later confirm, admitting he couldn’t remember much after healing Naruto.

(Further along the broad trail burned into the ground, in small fragments scattered among the sand in various layers around it, Itachi and Naruto also discovered what appeared to be the charred remains of an exoskeleton, of a dunemite that had seemingly been incinerated by Sasuke’s magic.)

Naruto didn’t say anything more about it, only asked if he could hold Sasuke’s sword, offered to carry it until they found Sasuke, so he could give it back to him, stared at Itachi with a determined set to his lips, gaze the same resolute, as self-assured as he was in his own words.

_“We’re going to find him, Itachi. We have to. Because I know Sasuke’s somewhere out there—I know he’s out there without us, somewhere he’s probably alone, and I don’t care if it means going up against another storm. I’m not stopping until I find him.”_

Following the direction of the trail, it took nearly half a day until they were eventually led to an underground facility, at the base of a towering crag, discovering a hidden entrance concealed beneath an unstable outcrop, surrounded by a salt pan camouflaged by white sand.

With a higher sensitivity to magical energies, as they grew nearer to the facility, Naruto had been able to sense Sasuke’s magic sooner, alongside something else he wasn’t sure of, a presence that he explained didn’t feel exactly like magic, but wasn’t too far off from it, either.

A further scope of the area led to the discovery of another hidden entrance, on the other side of the crag, where Itachi decided to make entry; he sent sending Naruto to other entrance that had shown signs indicating less frequent use, told him to be careful, only reminding him to keep his comm line open.

Without knowing the situation, separating to enter the facility from opposite ends was the most efficient approach, a more calculated means of dispersion if need be, underlying both his shadow magic and Naruto’s potential role as a decoy.

Whatever had brought Sasuke to this detention facility concealed in the middle of the desert, to his annoyance, Itachi could only rely on knowingly baseless supposition, although now he can admit it certainly went well beyond the lines of anything he could’ve possibly prepared himself to expect, only a little less difficult to take in stride with Juugo sat across from them, over the sharp crackles of the small fire warm between them, apologising for the second time.

“It was not my intention to attack you. I only wished to prevent Sasuke from coming to harm.”

“I know Sasuke’s already convinced,” Naruto says, with a glance to Sasuke asleep at his side, Sasuke still wearing Itachi’s jacket, covered by the blanket they’re sharing. “But it hasn’t even been a day yet, so I think the jury’s still out on that one.”

“The jury?”

“Don’t get me wrong. You seem like a nice guy and all, and I’m sorry you ended up alone in a creepy place like that, that all those things even happened to you, to your people, but we still don’t know enough about you to really say.”

“I only wish to help Sasuke.”

Naruto simply gives a half-shrug, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “Not my call.” 

“I understand.”

Itachi watches Juugo, remembers the specks of yellow in eyes now seemingly the epitome of calm, as Juugo allows himself to rest against the wall, meets his stare kindly, before closing red eyes, regarding him with a quiet smile.

The yellow seeping into Juugo’s eyes, what Juugo himself admitted to be a sign of the anger that rages inside him, he’s never come across anything like it before.

(Within the spectrum of Earth’s civilisation currently scattered across the galaxy, among colonies and settlements that have remained isolated for longer periods of time, mostly due to environmental factors, albeit uncommon, there have been instances of faster and less steady rates of genetic mutation more noticeably affecting physical traits.

An image it typically brings is the Mirasta cities of what’s now Malcor III, what used to be Alliance territory, one of the very first territories the Alliance had claimed, although it quickly became Federation territory, more readily known as part of Sector 24, on a planet with nearly ninety percent of its surface covered by water, the Mirasta cities most widely recognised for a vast majority of their people having prominently sharp life teeth.)

The flecks of yellow he’d seen that started to bleed into Juugo’s eyes, a distinguishing feature manifesting Juugo’s rage, it’s actually not dissimilar from the whites of Sasuke’s eyes whenever he’s using life magic, or even the reds of Naruto’s eyes whenever he’s being heavily influenced by Kyuubi. 

It is interesting. Having been forced to land on the previously unknown Barrah, to have met someone like Juugo on so seemingly random an encounter, as with many instances involving either Sasuke’s life magic or Naruto’s relationship to Kyuubi, it is very interesting. It also leaves far too much to the imagination, if he were a less patient person, far too much room for speculation.

It’s why he hadn’t thought to dismiss Juugo’s story, after Juugo’s more formal attempt at hospitality, Juugo inviting them to rest inside the small cell a display of his humble living conditions, where he’d apparently been living for an indeterminate amount of time—time Juugo hadn’t been able to keep track of, although a loss he said he’d grown to accept, a new life he’d grown used to, having already made peace with his past.

With that in mind, as they sat in Juugo’s home, as Juugo offered Sasuke his blanket, his only visible source of warmth within reach, Itachi could only offer to listen, could only ask questions, as willing as Juugo was to speak of what he knew.

The underground facility, despite its clean appearance, with its walls stark white and its lights pale green, presenting an almost clinical atmosphere, Juugo called it a prison, where he and his people had been taken after the Snake Charmer and the Masked Men had invaded their villages, where they were held collared, enslaved for labour, used for the Snake Charmer’s experiments, until one day they were suddenly abandoned, the very few who remained suddenly free and still yet unable to leave.

(Though the bodies were missing, bodies Juugo had taken to the dale, to place in the basin where his people had been so easily discarded, the prison Juugo referred to as his home, Sasuke had aptly described it as an underground crypt—with far less tact, although not within earshot of Juugo, Naruto called it a hellhole, said it was only a matter of time before all the dead people souls came out to possess them.)

Juugo also went into more detail about the layout of the prison, including the storeroom, the only area distinct from the near labyrinth of diminutive cells seemingly taking the prison in its entirety, but also the largest area, which may have even functioned as a sort of hub due to its considerable size; although it was strange, apart from the handful defunct access panels, the electronic systems remained largely intact, clearly operating on a self-sustained power source, and yet they were neither able to find evidence of a power source, nor any sort of control room, or hint of a surveillance system that normally would be found within a prison.

Stranger still was the stockpile of undesignated, military-issue REMs within the storeroom, boxes upon boxes stacked along the walls, with nothing on the boxes themselves to trace back to the supplier, to the intended recipient, whether the REMs had originally been ordered by the Alliance or the Federation.

The storeroom did have a seemingly continuous supply of fresh water supply, what Juugo had been collecting from a large clear tank, stood upright near the corner of the storeroom, presumably connected to an outside water source that was filtered before being transferred to the tank.

It was how Juugo had even been able to survive on his own, also seemed to add credence to Juugo’s claim that the Snake Charmer and the Masked Men had left abruptly, but it still didn’t explain that sudden departure, alongside these indicators suggesting whatever occupying force had seemingly been involved in a long-term operation, may have even been live for a least two or three years.

The more he mulls it over, the further away any semblance of understanding seems to slip from his grasp.

Yet as much as he would’ve preferred to explore more of the prison, he knew they couldn’t stay. He wanted to leave before the dark, and it was already too late to make the trek for the ship, so instead he chose to reconvene at the caves allowing them to take high ground, already decided that he did want Juugo to come along.

They loaded what provisions they were able to carry, mostly packages of food they wrapped in blankets Juugo had found, the largest of which Juugo insisted he carry, as his only belongings were very few articles of clothing and the flat pillow he left behind, alongside the thin padding on the floor, creating a makeshift bed, pushed against the wall of the cell.

Across from him, Juugo’s eyes remain closed, his breathing considerably slowed.

He reaches for the long, uneven stick beside him, reaches to tend to the flames that flicker a little higher before quickly settling down. Leaning back into his position against the wall, he lowers the stick to the ground, not for the first time, glancing towards the large entryway opposite him, watching for any movement other than the shadows wavering along the cave wall.

Having given his jacket to Sasuke, he folds his arms for warmth, looks to his left to see Naruto’s finally fallen asleep, too, the side of his face resting on top of Sasuke’s head.

After finding Sasuke, after meeting Juugo, it only seemed to intensify Naruto’s bad feeling. He was reluctant to leave Sasuke’s side, to allow Juugo too close, despite his carefree demeanour, how friendly he’s been towards Juugo.

Even as they began to settle for the night, Naruto had almost immediately taken up a position near the far corner, leaving most of his right side exposed to Itachi, with Sasuke to his left, closer towards the wall, farthest away from the immediate line of sight, if someone were to enter the caves.

It was a more subtle kind of manoeuvre, his movements appearing casual, probably as much a purposeful measure and as it was a subconscious gesture, this heightened sense of awareness Naruto’s always seemed to have around Sasuke, the way he’s been around Sasuke for some time, already ingrained in his behaviour.

For now, he’d rather have Naruto sleep, but he’ll have to wake him in a couple hours, probably give him thirty or so minutes more, because he does intend to return to the ship early tomorrow, providing there isn’t another storm.

He also intends to have another conversation with Juugo, intends to speak to him alone, because the questions he still has may allude to the sort of discussion that doesn’t need to involve Sasuke and Naruto.

Although he still can’t be sure what to make of Juugo, on some level, Juugo does seem understanding of their situation, despite his apparent attachment to Sasuke, had even offered to stay behind, if his presence made Itachi or Naruto uncomfortable.

Sasuke had insisted that neither his Influence nor his empathy was having an effect on Juugo, which may very well be the case, with Juugo probably having developed an emotional connection to the first person he’s presumably had contact with in years, formed near instantaneous, coupled with the fact that Sasuke was also able to safely remove the collar that had been forced around Juugo’s neck.

“You sure about that?” Naruto said, slipping out of Standard as he sat down beside Sasuke, with his sleeve, wiping off the thin layer of dust covering one of the unopened boxes he’d moved closer, before placing on top of it the REM Sasuke had given him, while he opened it, leaving space on the surface of the box for Sasuke to do same with his own.

“Yes, I’m sure because I already told you, Naruto. There may still be some things I can’t help, but not everything has to do with that. It’s not every time that something is wrong. After all the things he’s told me, what he’s told you and Itachi, you can’t just expect to ignore—”

“I already know that. But I know you, too. And knowing you, the point still is that you used your empathy when you weren’t supposed to.”

“It didn’t affect him.”

“You used your life magic on someone you don’t even know. Someone who could’ve—”

“He already knew about my life magic, and he didn’t do anything.”

“But what if he did, Sasuke? What if he tried to do something to you? What if something happened, when me and Itachi couldn’t be there?”

“...I would’ve known.”

Naruto swallowed, pulling the spoon away from his mouth as he looked up, looked to Sasuke already watching him. “Yeah, that’s what you always like to say, but this time it’s different, Sasuke. Because this isn’t like back home on Nagi. This isn’t like back on the base. And that’s what I really need you to get.”

Itachi hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but they were in the storeroom at the time, he and Juugo eating in relative silence, while Sasuke and Naruto had found a spot for themselves, already engaging in conversation barely above a whisper, though loud enough in the otherwise quiet room.

He only caught the gist of their conversation, bits and pieces he’d inadvertently heard, until Naruto switched back to Standard, both he and Sasuke apologising to Juugo, before they began to ask Juugo more about himself.

It was the sort of conversation he knows Naruto’s already had with Sasuke, one he’s had with Sasuke many times himself, and while he’s never felt particularly inclined to get between them, for the most part, within reason, leaves them to themselves (save for one particular instance a necessary exception), he also knows they wouldn’t have spoken in front of him, if being overhead had been an issue.

Yet everything Naruto said is true, words in some form what Naruto has probably said before, repeating much of what Sasuke’s already been told by everyone else around him, although Sasuke does seem to be more receptive when hearing it from Naruto, seems to appreciate that candid aspect of their relationship, notwithstanding Naruto’s tendencies to act on Sasuke’s behalf.

It’s also something Itachi believes Sasuke often times needs to hear, simply because Sasuke has so often proven he lacks that inherent sense of danger, proven himself irresponsible with a complete disregard for the consequences of his actions, favouring instead his magic, why he had so easily shared his empathy with the stranger who’d saved him, used his life magic to release Juugo’s collar, because he’d already trusted that Juugo wouldn’t hurt him.

(Sasuke’s overreliance on his magic, that’s an argument for another time, another place; honestly, though, he prefers it, would much rather see his little brother able to hold his head high, with the same confidence that allowed him to hold his own when he confronted Orochimaru, yet that confidence in his magic can also leave Sasuke vulnerable, because there are still things he doesn’t know, things beyond the scope of his magic he still doesn’t understand, the experience he may never have, unprepared for situations beyond the hypothetical, when a situation presents a change that falls beyond his control, as situations can and are wont to do.)

Of course, he still takes Sasuke’s magic into consideration. He’d be highly remiss not to. The very nature of Sasuke’s magic, a compulsion at times that’s been difficult for even for Sasuke to resist, it’s not something to be taken lightly, when it takes over Sasuke, a force that seems to take on a life of its own.

Yet however Sasuke may feel in regards to Juugo, Sasuke still knows it’s not a sufficient basis or an even excuse for how freely he’d used his life magic around Juugo, despite the fact he doesn’t seem to fully realise how truly dire the situation could’ve been, in an unknown environment, if he’d woken alone to a far less amiable stranger in Juugo’s position, someone who may have even been aware of Sasuke’s identity, and wouldn’t have been so indisposed to use to their advantage Sasuke’s unconscious state.

That isn’t to say he believes Sasuke incapable of defending himself. As well, among the sort of worst-case scenarios that do come to mind, he doesn’t doubt the possibility that Sasuke’s magic may have somehow intervened, as it conveniently tends to do, but a history of sporadic occurrences isn’t a guarantee.

And while he can still acknowledge that Juugo saved Sasuke, still can’t even begin to express how grateful he truly is that Juugo had found Sasuke, that Juugo had only tried to help him, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’d trust Sasuke or Naruto alone with him; acknowledging that Juugo had protected Sasuke when he himself wasn’t able to, when he wasn’t even there to, his primary reasons for allowing Juugo to follow them have very little to do with altruism, because he doesn’t feel beholden to him.

Thus far, Juugo’s actions do seem to have been motivated by an unprompted desire to watch over Sasuke, but the brief glimpse into Juugo’s rage Itachi had seen, a rage Juugo had been on the verge of unleashing upon Naruto, despite how quickly Juugo had been calmed by Sasuke’s words, the potential for it still remains.

He knows better than to place too much emphasis on first impressions, hasn’t made assumptions about why or how Juugo and his people had been shackled by collars without chains, if there had been a reason Juugo had been secluded at all, if there had been a need to further subdue him even from within the confines of the prison, yet Juugo himself admitted, even as a young child, his violent bursts of anger had compelled his own father to keep him isolated from the rest of their village. 

Juugo also claims Sasuke’s mere presence calms the fury that burns within him, has instilled an inner peace he’d once resigned himself to believe would always be out of reach.

Going by the lore of Juugo’s people, he does wonder how much that has to do with Juugo’s ability to sense auras, considering his ancestors had lost their ability to use magic. It’s the first he’s ever heard of such a thing, although it’s apparently how Juugo was able to find Sasuke, why Juugo had even ventured from the prison, despite the nearly suffocating pain from the collar around his neck, even from so far away, drawn to Sasuke’s aura.

Without having magic, to read someone’s magical aura, to identify them by their elemental magic, though no fault of Juugo’s own, certainly nothing he’d hold against him, he has to agree with Naruto. It does feel somewhat intrusive, a little too personal.

More than simply being able to hide magical ability, being able to hide elemental magic that could be traced throughout families, it became a means of survival, still remains crucial in too many parts of the galaxy, the significance of it still taught even within the considerably safer magic user communities, Nagi included.

Although perhaps that sensory ability is why Juugo seemed so ardent to again discuss the extent Sasuke had been affected by the collar, after Sasuke fell asleep, this time conveying his distress about the harm he hadn’t meant to cause, unlike Sasuke, who hadn’t been so forthcoming about the subject.

_“Not saying I don’t want to believe Sasuke when he says he’s okay, because I do, since he’s a lot better with this sort of thing than he used to be. It’s just, he doesn’t get to see it from the outside looking in, what that really looks like. And the way you make it sound....”_

_“How were his eyes?”_

_“His eyes were white, but he was very still, as if he couldn’t move. And his breathing, it was very quiet, very soft. When he released the collar, I could see he was in pain, but he wouldn’t let the collar go. I had to remove it.”_

Juugo destroyed the collar as soon as he’d taken it from Sasuke, with his hands, crushed the metal into small pieces he then pushed aside, eventually throwing the remains down a chute that led to some sort of trash receptacle.

While he would’ve liked to have seen the collar, he’s not disappointed that Juugo had thought to separate Sasuke from it. Sasuke said it’d somehow been powered by Juugo’s life force, keeping the internal mechanism of the collar intact, until he was able to create a loophole using the metal as a blockade, which resulted in the backlash of magic he’d received.

The mere notion of magical technology is a contradiction in and of itself, such a seemingly impossible thing to exist, and yet he doesn’t question what Sasuke felt; it’s more so the matter of not knowing what kind of the effects that backlash has had or will have on Sasuke, but he’s already recognised that Sasuke’s suffering from magical exhaustion.

How easily Sasuke had fallen asleep, too easily, allowed himself to rest against Naruto, although that is concerning him, he’s not surprised. Within less than the span of a day, between healing Naruto and the massive patch of earth seared below ground, alongside releasing Juugo from that collar, despite Sasuke’s intentions, he overexerted himself.

Sasuke admitted he was a five on his scale, probably closer to a four; out of seven, it isn’t necessarily alarming, because Sasuke has been able to more consistently maintain his shields when he’s at least above a three, yet even at his lowest, any extensive exposure he’s had to people has usually been limited to other magic users, mostly those his magic’s already familiar with, the people during his childhood he grew to consider safe.

Ultimately, that is what worries him, after landing here, just how quickly Sasuke seems to be reverting to the default state of his empathy. It hasn’t quite reached the threshold where he feels the need to reintroduce Sasuke’s dailies, not yet, but it’s only been a year since Sasuke’s had to wear his gloves, already four removed from his last violent empathetic attack, the last time he’d seen his little brother cry.

He doesn’t worry so much about his own emotions affecting Sasuke, and yet in that one singular moment, for so fleeting a second, he responded with the barest lapse in his composure, when Sasuke had referred to him as _Admiral_ , while advocating for Juugo, reminding Itachi that Juugo was the one who had found him, that Itachi hadn’t been there.

Sasuke referring to him by rank, calling him a commanding officer, intentionally creating that kind of distance between them...

It hurt.

He won’t say or even try to pretend otherwise, because it did.

_“You know Sasuke didn’t really mean it, right?”_

_“What didn’t he mean?”_

_“What he said back there, the way he called you Admiral, you can’t think—”_

_“He’s still trying to adjust to the situation.”_

_“Tch. I don’t care what he was trying to do. I already told him he needs to apologise, and I’m going to tell him again, too. Yeah, I get this is all new and probably really hard on him—it’s hard on all of us—but that doesn’t make what he said okay. That wasn’t fair to you, Itachi. It really wasn’t."_

As juvenile as Sasuke’s words were, as much as it did hurt, he was still more relieved to have Sasuke safe with them, that nothing had happened to him, because he knew Sasuke hadn’t meant what he said, had only been trying to advocate for Juugo, worried about the very real possibility of Juugo being left behind, what Sasuke had already known Itachi would and did have to consider.

He doesn’t expect an apology from Sasuke, though. It was an exceptionally rare act of defiance that dissolved rather quickly, wasn’t attempted again, despite Sasuke’s efforts to help, offers to use his magic that were immediately denied because Itachi wasn’t giving him a choice.

He’d already recognised that Sasuke was in a state of decline, noticed the stolen glances to his arm, intermittent during their initial conversation with Juugo, Sasuke absently tugging on too long sleeves, the large cuffs caught beneath his fingers, pulled over his palms.

When Juugo and Naruto began to walk away, it was then he felt it, when Sasuke had nearly given in to an impulse to heal, had tried to take away his _hurt_ , began to reach toward him, only a passing moment between the two of them, a soft glow cast to dark eyes grown wide, not yet white.

Rather than Sasuke’s attempt to lash out, more upsetting was the realisation that Sasuke hadn’t been aware of his actions, deliberately drawn to him, drawn to the faint lines an angry red along pale skin, superficial marks that would heal in due time, yet Sasuke continued to stare, seemed to stare through him, as his hand began to rise, with the slow, graduated raise of his arm, as if the motions weren’t his own—almost as if Sasuke were eight again, too young to control it, unable to grasp the ramifications of having such magic, as he sought to heal anyone within reach, sought to soothe with his empathy, his normally obstinate little brother suddenly so pliant, susceptible to even the slightest whim, still flinch, despite the faraway look in his eyes, still affected by the even slightest sensations from emotions that seldom belonged to him alone.

But he also has to account for the fact that he and Naruto are both here, which has had a distinct effect in the past, in regards to Sasuke’s ability to maintain his shields when he has fallen lower on his scale.

He still doesn’t know where Juugo may fall in that category, although as adamant as Sasuke had been to speak in Juugo’s favour, willing to openly defy him, however small the audience, it is something he’s made an allowance for, at least momentarily; Naruto hadn’t seemed far behind Sasuke, even knowing the decision wouldn’t fall to him, despite still being on edge, unable to ignore the gravitas of what happened to Juugo and his people.

Itachi couldn’t, either. Yet even before he knew, it hadn’t necessarily been his intention to leave Juugo. He doesn’t think himself callous for considering it, simply pragmatic—beneath an air of indifference perhaps, but only with Sasuke’s and Naruto’s safety in mind.

However, given that they are stranded here for the moment, alongside Juugo being his only source of information on Barrah, possibly his only recourse on an uncharted planet he knows nothing about, he could hardly refuse the opportunity to have Juugo join them.

Because he still needs answers.

The experiences Juugo’s already had to relive, with the level of detail Juugo has been able to provide, at the very least, he wants to search this dale, to see if there’s anything that may further corroborate Juugo’s story—the mystery surrounding Barrah and its people, the mystery of the Snake Charmer and the Masked Men.

The second moniker is self-explanatory, but the first, the Snake Charmer, the name itself is the closest Juugo could interpret from his native language, which seems to be more limited in vocabulary, based on the remains of the language as it was spoken by his ancestors and a more old-fashioned variation of Standard; it fits Juugo’s style of speech, though well-spoken, sometimes a bit stilted due to the combination of syntax and diction that can sound outdated.

Yet Juugo had also been young when the Snake Charmer first came to Barrah, and the name wasn’t given until well after contact had been made with Juugo’s people, not until months later, what began only days before the equivalent of Juugo’s tenth birthday, while their villages were being raided, as they were taken from their homes, because Juugo’s people had been lured into a false sense of security, in their ignorance, taken in by the charms of the foreign man who came from the Outside, the foreign man capable of unimaginable things, who whispered the secrets of everlasting life, but coveted the strange stone from the mountain of all the things.

(Juugo still doesn’t know how many years have passed. He doesn’t know how long the Snake Charmer and the Masked Men had stayed, how long it’s been since he’s been living alone, or even how old he is—how the collar had seemingly adjusted in size with him, if it was able to siphon from his life force, as a self-powered means of containment.)

At most, he appears to be in his early to mid-twenties, but appearance alone isn’t an accurate representation of time.)

The name Snake Charmer, though those two words do feel a bit clumsy around the tongue when spoken in Standard, Juugo’s people hadn’t chosen it by chance—the foreign man who had been named for his appearance, had been likened to a snake, after finally shedding his skin.

Aside from the interstellar crimes this Snake Charmer may have possibly committed, perhaps the most astonishing piece of information Juugo had shared about him, the Snake Charmer Juugo frequently referred to, who had initiated contact, who had personally introduced himself to Juugo’s people with Juugo’s people—was the Snake Charmer’s given name.

The moment Juugo mentioned the name Orochimaru, it was uncanny, almost absurd, an incredible notion the possibility that Orochimaru could be so heavily involved with any of this.

He’ll admit, if only for the sake of brevity, the moniker does seem an apt descriptor for both Orochimaru’s mannerisms and his character, even before Juugo’s reveal, the Snake Charmer a figure Juugo had vividly described remarkably similar in appearance to Orochimaru.

And yet it still remains conjecture at best; while the name is uncommon, Orochimaru himself is a highly recognised figure across both the Alliance and the Federation, even within the general public sphere.

However, in their predicament, from what he’s been able to parse, the mere fact Juugo had mentioned Orochimaru by name, the sheer odds of that alone, at some point it does become more than coincidence, does begin to suggest a continuing pattern, and although he’s yet to see evidence to substantiate Juugo’s claim that he and his people had been subjected to inhumane experimentation, it certainly falls well within Orochimaru’s MO.

But supposing he does find evidence to support it, supposing that everything Juugo’s said does prove to be true, whatever did happen on Barrah, regardless of why the operation had been abandoned, it doesn’t resolve the one glaring disparity at the crux of what has thrown him off kilter.

For someone in his position, quite frankly, the significance and extent of the power he has at his disposal, the length of the strings he’s been able to pull from a position he can only attribute to the placement of clearly established loyalties to the Alliance, for someone who has been afforded an exceptionally high clearance, if he himself hadn’t before been aware of Barrah, if Barrah doesn’t exist on any of the maps he personally has access to, how could Orochimaru have known about it?

It’s this nagging sense of unknowing that irks him, especially discomfiting, his own continued lack of conducive knowledge in this kind of situation that he truly does find so very irksome, worries him immensely this unseen opposition for which he still has no baseline.

But this goes well beyond their situation on Barrah. It’s a security concern for the Alliance at large, if they haven’t already been comprised, because this isn’t something that can be written off as some faux pas—this isn’t one of those diplomatic stunts Orochimaru’s willing to pull for attention.

Someone of Orochimaru’s calibre, someone who does know how to skirts the lines, if the Orochimaru Juugo mentioned is the same Orochimaru currently under the Federation’s protection as one of its civilian dignitaries, if the same Orochimaru had exploited Juugo’s people, had essentially committed genocide within neutral territory, on a planet that may have even been purposely omitted from the standard map shared between the Alliance and the Federation...

That same Orochimaru would be a citizen of the Federation in direct violation of the IAS Convention, would have broken Article II, an act some would legally be within their right to assert as an open declaration of war.

Despite his own tumultuous relationship with Orochimaru, he doesn’t believe there can be any justification for war, and using Orochimaru’s violation to rationalise it would certainly be excessive; but the IAS Convention is an older series of treaties, allowing much greater room for modern interpretation, one of the first between the Alliance and the Federation to actually succeed, and there are those wouldn’t hesitant to seize any opportunity to brandish their power.

There’s nothing he can do about it now, no way to report what ultimately still remains unsubstantiated speculation about Orochimaru, the forces he brought with him to Barrah, and whoever had sponsored the entire operation.

Right now, he can only focus on reaching the ship tomorrow—today. He’ll probably give Naruto another hour before they switch, although he still wants to leave early, wants to ensure Naruto has time to fully assess the extent of the damage, the probability that sand may have seeped into some of the ship’s more delicate systems, and the likelihood of Naruto even being able to make any major mechanical repairs,

But he trusts in Naruto’s knowledge.

He trusts in Naruto’s abilities.

He trusts Naruto.

And if there may come a time when Naruto has to choose, trusts that Naruto will take Sasuke and utilise their only means of escape.

He’d rather not have to rely on assumptions, but if that scouter ship had been an intentional attempt to veer them off course, if the purpose had been to direct them toward Barrah, then it’s not unlikely that reinforcements will be making an appearance soon.

It’s more so a question of—

There’s movement from his left, as Naruto begins to shift, as he begins to move from underneath the blanket, careful not to wake Sasuke still asleep, Sasuke propped against the wall, head leaned towards the corner.

Rubbing his eyes, Naruto groans, already moving to stand. “Definitely not good for the back,” he murmurs, while closing his eyes, raising his arms to stretch above his head, linking his fingers, “but at least it was better than last night.”

He drops his arms, giving a few quick rolls of his shoulders, before turning his head, peeking at Itachi with one eye open. “My turn yet?”

“A little under an hour.”

Naruto blinks, sparing a glance towards Juugo. “Guess he’s still out, too.”

“It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah. You’re telling me. But I don’t think I could back to sleep, anyway.”


End file.
